Too bad, Rowdy. Definitely one of the best promos in the business.
My earliest memories of him were from the Mid-Atlantic/NWA days, feuding with Ric Flair and Greg "The Hammer" Valentine (culminating in a bloody dog collar match at the first Starcade).
RIP
YES!!! He was legend. I remember I was working at the Hartford Civic Center as a security guard (we had to wear blazers, white button down shirts, and clip on ties), and was working the cage match between him and Jake The Snake. Friggin' best match ever, by the way, but at one point, I was leaning against the rail facing away from the match and a little kid says to me "Mister, why aren't you watching the fight?" and I said "Because I already know who's going to win." And the mom shot me a look of death, like "Don't blow this for my kid, a-hole!" The kid says something like "You do?" and I said yes, and flipped my tie over, and unbuttoned my shirt like Superman to show the "HOT ROD" t-shirt I was wearing underneath. For about 12 minutes I was the coolest security guard ever to about 10 pre-teen kids and their parents.
Ya know... as much as we discussed/debated the Hogan = WWF topic, Rowdy Roddy was just as important. He was Hogan's first major feud and heel; he was the lightning rod for the Rock 'n' Wrestling era with the whole Cap'n Lou/Lauper thing at MSG; he was the main event along with Hogan (Orndorff and T were just along for the ride) for Westlemania. If WM tanks, there is no WMII, and perhaps the how the WWE structure's PPVs is different. He was front and centre every single week on WWF weekend TV with Piper's Pit.
Personally, I think he's #2 in importance to the national launch of the WWF after Hogan.
Gonna miss him, but thankful I grew up watching him in his prime.
Favorite wrestler ever, and it isn't even close. I've heard the rumblings, but truth be told, he was Derek Jeter. Or Terry Bradshaw. Was he the best or most flamboyant guy on the floor? Nope, but he was money, always, and he made the people he was with better than they would have been without him there. Even the Hogan rivalry and the "no pin", it made that feud legend, and it let Hogan be that "David Lee Roth" character.
I generally tend toward the guys like that, so for me, he is my all time favorite.